Yes, in common parlance perhaps, but not in the definition provided. In effect, a democracy can and should run on "populism." Populism is intended to represent the will of the people, even if it does not always precisely do so. If they promote unpopular policies they aren't really populist in the true sense. The danger in representing populism as you do is that when the claim of an out of touch and autocratic elite is legitimate, they are easily demonized and ignored.
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